A solid strategy for security

G4S is a global, integrated security company specialized in the provision of security and related services to customers across six continents. In Belgium, the company employs over 6,000 people. G4S wants to make the world a safer place and, to deliver on that promise, the company is building its entire strategy around this leitmotif. On a strategic level, G4S found a solid sparring partner in delaware. Through a series of workshops and interviews, delaware supported G4S in building a strategic roadmap with clear priorities and milestones.

Unveiling the future of security

“delaware has proven to be an excellent strategic sounding board,” says Jean-Paul Van Avermaet, CEO at G4S. By outlining to the G4S management committee all major trends that will shape the world in 10 to 15 years time and by discussing their potential impact on G4S’s business, delaware set the scene for the development of a long-term strategic plan. Furthermore, a broad variety of technological trends were discussed and prioritized based on their current maturity and their impact on the G4S service offering. In a subsequent phase, delaware involved middle management to translate the long-term horizon into a plan up to 2020.

“The workshops delaware organized really made us think about which customers to serve, which services to develop and which resources and competences we need to acquire in order to truly make the world a safer place,” adds Jean-Paul Van Avermaet.

From long-term aspirations to a short-term plan

The ideas that were gathered through the ‘Cover Story’ exercise and the Business Model Canvas were then translated into specific actions that need to be taken within the next five years. Based on the insights emerging from this strategic exercise, delaware supported G4S in reviewing its strategic roadmap, fine-tuning its vision and mission statement and defining a concrete roadmap for executing the strategy.

Jean-Paul Van Avermaet: “Working on this project in collaboration with an external partner has proven to be very valuable. delaware not only opened our eyes by delivering new insights and discussing the major trends to be taken into account, but also managed the end-to-end process of this strategic exercise. We will certainly ask them again for the next strategic seminar to do the follow-up.”